A TWITCH AND A TURNSTONE

My usual few days in Cambridgeshire during the summer holidays fell towards the end of August this year and therefore it seemed a good opportunity to see what waders had come in at Frampton Marsh RSPB reserve. A good list of birds to see  had appeared on their sightings list, but the previous evening to our visit, news had come in of a rarity.. a stilt sandpiper Admittedly not a bird I have even heard of but always good to see something new. 

As you'd expect, the car park was exceptionally busy; we arrived early but before we left the overflow carpark field was in use too.  The visitor centre had just opened for the morning and a  good number of birds, ducks and geese could be seen from the  centre, and directly in front  of it, dozens of sand martins were clinging to the reeds, their wings appearing to shimmer, just like a flock of locusts on a field of corn!  At the visitor centre people were enquiring about the whereabouts of the sandpiper, and we were pointed in the direction of a group of people out on the reserve which we could see from the visitor centre. We strolled in that direction and caught up with them,  but no sandpiper had been seen for a while. Scouring with our binoculars for a while, we then left the group and headed for a couple of hides where Karen was able to add several birds to her list of waders for the year. Heading for the final hide,  a birder ahead of us gave a whistle and a wave.. the stilt sandpiper had been re found and we were at the right spot at the right time! The bird could be seen with the naked eye, but any decent views of its striking plumage could really only be made out through binoculars or through a kind person's telescope! 

stilt sandpiper.. 

Looking on the twitter feed that evening, we appeared to have just missed the arrival of a red necked phalarope which amazingly decided to feed right next to the stilt sandpiper, a bonus for anyone there. 

The next day was somewhat colder and we made a visit to a reserve at Pitsford Reservoir; here again Karen added more birds and also butterflies to her list. Clouded yellow butterflies are sometimes seen here, but clearly with cool, and cloudy conditions with some wind, I was unlikely to find any today. We followed this with a stop off at Twywell Hills and Dales. I was excited to hear that a second brood grizzled skipper had been spotted here recently, but it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and we were unsuccessful in finding any. We saw a couple of birders who had seen a redstart at the end of the field but disappointingly it had disappeared and we were anxious to get home before the bank holiday weekend traffic really got going. 

On my way home I stopped off at Farmoor reservoir. Although blue skies, there was a brisk north westerly wind and I needed my jacket. Plenty of  sand martins and house martins flying low over the causeway as I walked along it.  Along the causeway I found two ringed plovers, adult and juvenile, and also six dunlin and two grey wagtails.  All of which were within 10 feet of me so good viewing opportunities. As I returned to the carpark I mused on the fact that  I had not yet managed to see a turnstone at Farmoor although they are seen  from time time. I looked down.. and there it was.. a turnstone a few metres away! How strange is that! It was very confiding and allowed me to keep abreast with it as it ran along the edge of the shoreline. Farmoor reservoir allows some really close views of waders and other water birds from time to time, and I have enjoyed excellent views of a variety of species, this being the latest, and a nice end to my short break. 

ringed plover

ringed plover

dunlin and juv ringed plover

dunlins

dunlin preening

juv ringed plover

turnstone

SLIMBRIDGE SANDPIPERS

Finding myself with a day to spare, I spent several hours catching up with what's going on at Slimbridge WWT Centre. As usual, I visited the Rushy Pen hide first where it was pretty quiet, although   I was pleased to see several green sandpipers had arrived although I didn't locate any little ringed plovers.  Further along the Holden walkway, I was able to find the wood sandpiper which obligingly came fairly close to the Robbie Garnett hide and I spent a while watching and photographing it.  From the Holden Tower,  could be seen cattle grazing on the sea wall, with at least one yellow wagtail amongst them. 
Around the reserve the usual waders were in evidence; black tailed godwit, ruff, avocet, lapwing, and geese and ducks included Canada goose, greylag, Egyptian and barnacle geese, teal, gadwall, mallard and shoveler.  Half a dozen cranes were seen too. 

avocet

green sandpiper

lapwing

wood sandpiper

Finally, who could resist these cute flamingo chicks that have featured in the news recently. One of them looked only a day or so old. 

GRAYLINGS

With the grayling butterfly still to find this year, I headed over to  a conifer plantation in a little village called Mortimer, south of Reading, where I  found some of these species last year. It's only a mile down the road from where my daughter lives and these butterflies have a favourite place which is easy to locate i.e. head straight down the track from the road then turn left. Here there is a small dug out quarry area with gravel next to it where heather and gorse like to grow. 

With a little sunshine forecast I parked the car at the gate and made straight for the area mentioned above. Sure enough I soon spotted a few grayling fluttering about from time to time, although I had to wait for the sun to find a gap in the clouds before any would make their presence known. They are masters of disguise and almost impossible to distinguish from the gravel once they have folded down their forewings. 

CHASING THE BLUES AT LARDON CHASE

One of the butterflies that has eluded me so far is the Adonis blue, so on reading that there had been good numbers at the NT Lardon Chase, Bucks, I decided to drive over there on the Friday afternoon after returning early that morning from holiday.

There was the promise of a bit of sun although a slight breeze, so I was hopeful of adding this species to my year list. On entering the reserve, I stopped. On a sign on the gate it read  Beware 'Cows, calves and a bull in this field'!

I looked across the reserve and could see a herd of black cattle in the distance, mostly grazing facing away from me. I knew that I would need to keep an eye on them, as they can quickly change direction and would easily reach me if they wanted to!  I therefore decided that I would have to forego the nice walk that I would have liked to do, and concentrate on looking for butterflies in the area of field near to me. There was quite a lot of wild marjoram in places which would attract a variety of species. Whenever the sun came out, a few butterflies would flutter around. Initially I saw several common blue, but then a brighter, more turquoise butterfly appeared amongst them... an adonis blue. Well, I had achieved what I came for anyway!.

I ventured a little further downhill,  searching for butterflies but soon noticed that the cattle had now turned and were slowly returning uphill towards me. I decided not to take any risks, and retraced my steps until I was within 50 metres of the gate. I found a small copper butterfly and then two brown argus as well as the common and adonis blue I'd already seen.

Not wanting to take any chances I decided not to remain on the reserve any longer, so feeling a little disappointed not to have had a longer visit, I returned to the car park and then home.

distant cows

adonis blue

brown argus

common blue

small copper

cows now returning!

BROWN HAIRSTREAKS

Well what a change in the temperature today, I actually felt cold in a t shirt !

Having not succeeded in finding any brown hairstreaks yesterday I made the decision to visit Otmoor today. It was rather breezy with a fair amount of cloud in between the sunny intervals, but I was one of a number of people searching the Roman Road area of RSPB Otmoor reserve.

It quickly became obvious that there was a hotspot underneath a tall ash tree - the grass had been flattened by previous visitors and there were a few  butterflies spiralling around the top of the tree from time to time. One did come lower, and made for a decent photo, except closer inspection revealed a piece missing from its wing -- probably pecked by a bird.

We did manage to see both a female and male brown hairstreak, but they were quite high and difficult to photograph. After a couple of hours of waiting, and with no sign of any more individuals coming down,  and the weather becoming less sunny I decided to leave. Maybe it will be worth a further visit later on if I  get an opportunity, however, its one more tick for the year.

male brown hairstreak

female brown hairstreak

brown hairstreak with piece missing!

SHIPTON BELLINGER

With brown hairstreaks still on my list to find for this year, I headed to a the village of Shipton Bellinger where they are known to  be found. It was warm with mostly sunny skies and getting progressively hotter as the day went on!

I followed the Hampshire butterfly guide but disappointingly could not locate any of the brown hairstreaks in the areas described.  There were a couple of ash trees that looked promising but although I thought I saw some purple hairstreaks, flitting around the canopy, I did not see  any brown hairstreaks.

There were numerous other butterflies; speckled wood, holly blue, meadow brown, gatekeeper and whites, and surprisingly a couple of wall browns, one of which was in pristine condition, the other so tatty I was surprised it could even fly!

I might have to take a trip to Otmoor to see if I can locate any brown hairstreaks there, although with a holiday in between, I'm unsure whether they will still be around in a couple of weeks.

holly blue

speckled wood

wall brown

Post script: It seems as if I was looking in the wrong place yesterday so have made a note to look in a different area next time I visit Shipton Bellinger for brown hairstreaks.